Singapore Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than 25 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,255-point plateau and it's likely to extend its losing streak on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns about growth and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The STI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the properties, gains from the industrials and a mixed picture from the financials.

For the day, the index sank 7.55 points or 0.23 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,255.08 after trading as high as 3,275.10.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT gained 0.36 percent, while CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust dropped 0.52 percent, CapitaLand Investment skidded 0.81 percent, City Developments added 0.78 percent, Comfort DelGro improved 0.83 percent, DBS Group sank 0.50 percent, Emperador rallied 2.02 percent, Genting Singapore advanced 0.98 percent, Hongkong Land jumped 1.75 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust lost 0.42 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation declined 1.10 percent, SATS plummeted 5.30 percent, SembCorp Industries strengthened 1.65 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering tumbled 1.68 percent, SingTel climbed 1.27 percent, Thai Beverage slumped 0.78 percent, United Overseas Bank perked 0.03 percent, Wilmar International fell 0.25 percent, Yangzijiang Financial surged 4.29 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding soared 2.33 percent and Keppel Corp, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and Mapletree Logistics Trust were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday in a volatile session, finally ending mixed.

The Dow rose 5.14 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 32,661.84, while the NASDAQ lost 76.06 points or 0.66 percent to close at 11,379.48 and the S&P 500 sank 18.76 points or 0.47 percent to end at 3,951.39.

The choppy trading on Wall Street followed the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management on U.S. manufacturing activity in February. While the index improved to 47.7 from 47.4 in January, it remained in contraction.

The report also showed the prices index jumped to 51.3 in February from 44.5 in January, indicating a spike in raw materials prices after four months of decline - which added to recent concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates.

Treasury yields jumped following the release of the report, with the 10-year yield reaching its highest levels in over three months.

Crude oil futures settled at near two-week high on Wednesday, boosted by upbeat China factory data that raised the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed $0.64 or 0.8 percent at $77.69 a barrel.